The highlights, goofs, and minimalist adventures of a solo chick who chose to live full-time in an RV.

The Still Unidentified Mystery Formation In Moab+Mud Sliding and Jeep Terror

Monument Valley was fun, but the Forrest Gump/Mexican Hat days came to a close. The time to move on always comes, and we were ready.

See ya, old spot!

We hitched up our rigs and we headed out to Moab on March 19th.

The Incident

True to Kelly form (I am just not a careful person) when we got to Moab, I had another little RVing incident. (Shocking)

I had another tiny dump spill to log into my history book. But, any spill is a disgusting spill!😂

This pretty much sums it up.

Ok, it’s time for a new, BETTER (for me) sewer hose. I have a Rhino-Flex. On the Rhino-Flex, the L-shaped ends are removable.

That’s me. Studying what went wrong once AGAIN.

This means they can screw on and off. Well, mine like to loosen, apparently. My next hose will be a Lippert Waste Master. It’s the only leak-proof hose on the market. Leak PROOF- that’s more my style!

After I, spilled dumped and got water at the Maverick in town, we headed off to our new backyard. The road going to (Klondike Bluff) was AWFUL. I do recommend camping on Klondike, you just have to take it slow. There’s tons of space, great views, and it’s not as crowded as Dalton Well Rd or Willow Springs Trail, which are closer to Moab.

Moab ‘Utilities’

If you camp around Moab, there’s free water available inside the camping store in the middle of town, Gearheads. It’s very conveniently located next to the City Market and a nice, shiny, and new laundromat. Gearheads has a huge selection of camping gear. There’s also free water at the Maverick and at the Shell station south of town.

Another great store, if you’re into saving a buck, is Moab Gear Trader. I got a new-to-me pair of hiking pants, sandals, and some hiking boots. Then I turned around and re-consigned the sandals at the store. 🙄

Klondike Bluff Rd- The Good And The Bad

Last half-mile to our campsite, where it finally smoothed out. You can see the tiny ruins way down on the left side of the road. #NeverParkThereAgain

So we got to Klondike Bluff Rd. We drove in about 4.5 miles to our spot. Getting to our spot on Klondike Bluff took forever. The first 4 miles was nothing but jagged, rocky road. Took 40 minutes to drive that 4.5 miles.

Yes, I definitely recommend camping on Klondike, you just need to go in slowly with your rig. There’s tons of space, there are great views, and it’s not as crowded as Dalton Well Rd or Willow Springs Trail, which both are closer to Moab.

The ‘Blue’ Ruins Experience- Once Is Enough! 😜

We chose our spot for its good internet speed, great views, and for the serenity, as usual. (Or so we thought) I parked a fair bit away from my caravanning friend, Marshall (can you blame me?) and he got the better internet spot of the area.

I liked the ruins that were there. I thought ‘Hey, I can get some cool shots of it beside my RV’. (I didn’t, really, except for the awesome one Marshall got below) Parking there turned out not to be THE best idea I have ever had. If you know me, you know that there’s never been a whole pile of best ideas, either. 😂 (See Jeep ‘Invasion’ below)

Marshall took this while I was in town. The structure you see is from a 1968 movie set, “Blue”

We found out that the ruins are from a 1968 movie called “Blue”. It looks like a pretty ridiculously terrible western. You can watch the hilarious trailer here. Unreal that movies that bad could even get made, lol! 🤔 After the novelty wore off, the ruins were just kind of trashy. Lots of remnants from the ruins were scattered about. Also, there was a strange smell I kept smelling. Not sure what it was. Kind of liked it!

Creepy doll heads in the ruins

Chillin’ in our backyard. We were close enough to Arches NP to walk to it. That’s Arches, the tallest part of the rock formation on the left of the photo.The campsite, “Blue” ruins and the La Sal mountains in the backgroundIt’s pretty cool to be in the desert and still have the ability to see jagged mountains with snow on top in the distance. Hence, the goofy grin.

The Jeep ‘Invasions’

Well, let me tell you this. If you want peace and quiet, don’t park next to something that people might also want to want to come and look at, duh! We also happened to be there during the Easter Jeep Safari. (Isn’t every week in Moab some kind of Jeep week? 😂)

The introvert in me saw them coming and was like:

During the Jeep Safari, people get together and take their Jeeps on off-road trails as a group. Well, twice, a lineup of Jeeps drove RIGHT by our rigs to see the ruins. Hmmm. Privacy-temporarily denied! That’s public land… mostly it’s quiet. But sometimes… this sort of thing happens.

I’m really not into having people come so close to my home like this. Felt like an animal in a cage. That’s the introvert in me. I did venture out for photos eventually, lol!

Additionally, we were also parked next to a trail head. Oops. We will just say no to roads, and no to attractions from now on to keep the campsite a bit quieter. Actually, the Jeep invasion totally broke up those 2 days, gave me an excuse to quit working and go out and take some photos. It was an experience, for sure! Also, they informed us about the movie. 😁

Moab Mud

Moab can get muddy.

I’m pretty sure this is what I would have looked like had I fell out there.

We were surprisingly content with not moving from this spot despite lots of high wind and a few bouts of mud. And I mean MUD. When it muds here, it POURS mud. Don’t believe it? Neither did I. The ground looks very deceiving. Here’s proof:

Then there’s the truck mud. I almost didn’t make it home one evening. My truck started sliding all over the place on the road coming in after it had rained. Oh, when can I get my 4wd??

That’s all the mud I knocked off of the wheel wells the next morning. Little 2wd truck somehow made it through the slip-n-slide road! Oh, there’s still mud on my truck from this incident.

The Girls’ feet usually had to be washed off with water. They looked like they had hooves attached to the bottoms of their feet. Trixie’s did, anyway. Their feet didn’t get too bad here in this video. My flip-flops, however…

As for the wind- It howled. A lot. I heard something one day while working inside (due to the wind). Here’s what it was: (hint- It’s not me rocking the rig.)

Mud and wind aside, Moab was beautiful and there are lots of things to explore and to do. We shall return someday.

The Project

We stayed in Moab much longer than we normally stay in one area because our focus was on developing our new project. We put the BestDamnReviews.com website on hold to work on something we were much more passionate about in early February. We have a deadline to meet, the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend, to launch/announce it. We didn’t want to waste any days having to travel, look for water, a place to dump, etc. So we worked. And worked. And worked. And worked.

Sure, We HAD To Do Some Goofing Off!

There’s a ton to see around Moab… Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, dinosaur bones, and there are tons of trails surrounding the area. Most evenings, we would go for a walk with The Girls.

Here’s a pano view of our backyard at our first spot in Moab, with “The Girls” making a quick cameo at the end:

We did have many visitors during the two months. The first was our friend Becky Schade of Interstellar Orchard. She parked with us for a good while. She and I were full of antics. I was her sugar supplier. (Cokes and Peanut Butter Cups) We even did our toenails. I got some good girlie time in with her!

My toes, bottom. In case you were wondering. Happy toes!

We all hiked a few times together.

Becky and I can’t not make faces or we have to do some weird pose when it comes to photos. My kind of gal. #Fun

Evening Walks at our first camping spot. The scenery was pretty damn good for a desert! There’s good desert and there’s bad desert. This is good.

So, here I am, minding my own business, all trying to strike a pose beside this rock, when…

…along comes photobomber Becky. 😂 Her FACE!!!

Yeah, we were all total goofballs when we had time off or on an occasional evening walk. What do you think?

Wheeeeeeeeeeee…

“Teaching Moment”- Here’s more on the Moab Mud… think cracks mean it’s been dry for a long time? Think again.

Tower Arch. We walked here from our first campsite. Awesome walk, cause you had to find your own way, there was no trail. Went during Jeep week and it was Easter Sunday maybe? Didn’t see a SOUL the whole time! It’s one of the deepest arches in the park, so much less traveled.

View out from under Tower Arch.

I so tiny.

There are over 2,000 arches in Arches NP. Noone really knows the exact number. To qualify as a true arch in Arches NP, the opening has to be at least 3 feet.

Tower Arch to the right. Doesn’t look so big in this photo.

Well, where’s Gizmo been through all this? She’s there. Just behind the camera. Here’s a quick little cute clip of her if you are needing a Gizzie fix.

Here’s Becks doing a walk-thing that makes me laugh every time I see it.

So I decide to climb up in between these walls of this slot canyon…

Then gee, so does Becky…

And of course, then Marshall had to try. God, I’m such a leader.

We can’t just be normal, can we? Wait, who wants to be normal? Not I.

Gangstas of the arch. I think I was channeling “White Chicks” in this pose. The runway scene. Of which I coudn’t find the right Giphy for.

Da three stoogesCoolery in Arches. My new made-up name. Coolery.Just another arch in Arches National Park. After a while, we lost track of how many we saw.

The Unidentified Thing

I found this on a walk behind camp, towards Arches. This was super weird. What made it? Seriously, no-one I have shown this thing below knows what the heck it is. Do you? Please enlighten me if so! It’s not a beehive. Looks like some sort of rodent lives in it. But what made it?

5/28/17-UPDATE: It has been identified! DHRIley commented on Facebook and in the comments here that it was packrat middens. It’s also known as ‘amberat‘. (Google ‘amberat‘ under images. Very similar photos.) It could be fossilized, and/or thousands of years old! Fascinating- scientists use it to get a timeline of historical events. WOW! Pretty cool if you ask me.

See the bear head? But still… what’s that THING to the left of it? Have I discovered something new in nature? It’s hard and full of things like cactus spines and rocks. Some animal had to have made it. It’s huge, goes around to the other side of the boulder, too. Watch the videos below for a better look.Close-up. What IS this stuff??? There are creatures living in it. Well, there’s holes, anyway.

Seriously. What IS that thing? I do hope someone can tell me in the comments.

So that’s the first half of Moab. I thought we didn’t do much since we worked, but I guess I managed to see some interesting stuff!

Next up: Canyonlands and Arches and DINOSAUR BONES and TRACKS!

Last photo: Balls for you.

These little ‘balls’ form when the rock erodes around them. That’s my technical explanation. They were just neat. Ok, carry on!

Hey Chickadee! I’m going with ant or termite mound on that “thing”. Reminds me of those tower ones you see in Africa with the big anteaters. Anyway, you now have us hooked on going to Moab. Great shots of the arches and dead trees. Love them all!

Yes, Moab is pretty rad! Termites crossed my mind as well. But termites living not in wood? And a mound that huge? And there’s cactus spines in it. Would they do that? Rock pieces, too. Lots of critters seem to be living it or have lived in it. Like mice. Or something.

Love Moab – looks like you guys had a great time. We’ve always stayed off Willow Springs Road and have first hand knowledge of that infamous Moab mud and of course all the off-roaders. Love the rainbow shot and the fun toenails!

RVers everywhere must love your offbeat humor, commentary and especially your wonderful pix and videos. You cover not only the glories of RVing, but the pitfalls which I would think more than a few have benffiting from knowing beforehand! Great job

From: Rv Chickadee To: rose0696@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, May 26, 2017 12:54 PM Subject: [New post] The Still Unidentified Mystery Formation In Moab+Mud Sliding and Jeep Terror #yiv7842991101 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv7842991101 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv7842991101 a.yiv7842991101primaryactionlink:link, #yiv7842991101 a.yiv7842991101primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv7842991101 a.yiv7842991101primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv7842991101 a.yiv7842991101primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv7842991101 WordPress.com | RvChickadee posted: “Monument Valley was fun, but the Forrest Gump/Mexican Hat days came to a close. The time to move on always comes, and we were ready. We hitched up our rigs and we headed out to Moab on March 19th.The IncidentTrue to Kelly form (I am j” | |

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